Working Around Streaming Throttling

I thought I'd share a solution I found to getting around ISP throttling of video streaming services without needing to worry about your VPN being blocked by the streaming service. Using GL.iNet's selective VPN tunneling abilities, I've been able to isolate VPN tunneling so only the CDN/video data stream domains run through the VPN tunnel while other traffic to the streaming service, which appears to include the domains they use to verify you aren't using a VPN, still pass over your ISP IP address. This is particularly useful if you use an ISP which, for example, limits your video streaming bandwidth to 2.5Mbps (T-Mobile/Calyx, in my case).

Anyway, it's pretty simple on the GL.iNet VPN dashboard, all you need to do is create a VPN tunnel with the "Travelling From" section set to "All Client" and the "Travelling To" section set to your streaming service domains. I've been able to test Disney+/Hulu (they use the same CDN for video data), Peacock, Apple TV, and Youtube. Youtube doesn't block VPNs and I had better luck with a broader domain selection there for some reason. I tested this configuration on both a desktop in the web browser and on an iPad using the apps for the respective services with great success, so I wanted to share in case anyone is looking to do something similar.

You'll also notice that I included nflxvideo.net, which is Netflix's video data streaming domain. I don't subscribe to Netflix, so couldn't test whether or not the service works, but I included it since it may work, and I used it for testing on Fast.com (which is partially broken with this configuration, but still works enough for me to see that the ISP bandwidth throttling was successfully defeated).

Here's what the VPN configuration looks like in the GL.iNet user interface:

The domain list in the screenshot above is:

nflxvideo.net
cdn.peacocktv.com
media.dssott.com
tv.apple.com
youtube.com
googlevideo.com
ytimg.com

Anyway, I hope that is helpful. One thing that tripped me up a little bit at first is that you must disable any DoH/secure DNS features on your network's client devices that you wish to be impacted by this configuration. If their DNS queries aren't being processed by the router, the selective tunnel won't work.

1 Like

Hello!
Same issue still no fix to this.

Best Regards,
Pamela
www-dqfanfeedback.com

Hello,

@pie is shared use experience in this thread.

@Pamela329Lac What VPN issue did you encounter? Please share more info about the issue.

Make sure that you don’t have a DNS configuration set up on your PC/device that routes your DNS queries around your router. Many browsers by default now set up DoH (DNS over HTTPS) which causes this solution to fail.